Buying in (poker)
Encyclopedia
In poker
and gaming "buying in" is the process of entering a tournament
that requires an up-front payment. The size of the payment, otherwise known as the "buy In", determines the total winning prize pool and also contains a fee, otherwise known as the rake
, that is paid to the house.
For example, a 50-person capacity tournament could cost $55 entry per player. In poker terms, this could be presented as "$50+$5", meaning $50 goes to the prize pool to pay the eventual winners and $5 (10%) goes to the house for hosting the tournament. In this example, the prize pool would contain $2500 and the house would take a total of $250 (also 10%).
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
and gaming "buying in" is the process of entering a tournament
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
that requires an up-front payment. The size of the payment, otherwise known as the "buy In", determines the total winning prize pool and also contains a fee, otherwise known as the rake
Rake (poker)
Rake is the scaled commission fee taken by a cardroom operating a poker game. It is generally 5 to 10 percent of the pot in each poker hand, up to a predetermined maximum amount. There are also other non-percentage ways for a casino to take the rake. Some cardrooms will not take a percentage rake...
, that is paid to the house.
For example, a 50-person capacity tournament could cost $55 entry per player. In poker terms, this could be presented as "$50+$5", meaning $50 goes to the prize pool to pay the eventual winners and $5 (10%) goes to the house for hosting the tournament. In this example, the prize pool would contain $2500 and the house would take a total of $250 (also 10%).